With a careful twitch to them, they moved ever so gentle. That was before finally revealing the moderate violet rims they had been hiding from the world for so long. With a small and graceful motion did the eyelids move themselves out of the way for the actual pupils to be revealed once more. To witness the beauty of the place the being happened to be living in. A deep but content sounding sigh was slowly released through the mouth before the eyes looked around the place.
A place that was somewhere within the insides of a castle that the being had been calling home for as long as it could have remembered. The lips gently curled themselves up into a faint smile before the hands were taken out of their signature meditation pose. They were both placed upon the back which was then curled backwards in order to crack it at certain places.
Each crack of the bones resulted in a deep moan to be released. Yet the eyes were closed again. The being felt itself good but ever so tired. For the being that sat there, happened to be one of the infamous soothsayers. The hands were removed from the back and placed upon the ground while the body leaned backwards.
Another deep inhale was being taken before the eyes stared at the ceiling and looked upon the reflection in the glass. What it saw was a being with a mulberry skin, two toned violet hair and some lighter pinkish streaks going through it. A smile came to the face before the being calmly stood up from the spot and revealed who it really was.
For the soothsayer was a mare that lived under the name of Twilight Sparkle, a brilliant one at that to begin with. Her knowledge of the world surpassed most of the others without a single doubt. However, those very same she called her brothers and sisters had called her insane on numerous occasions.
Her theories –while wonderful– were just madness itself. For she claimed that their race came forth out of the four legged race of old called ‘ponies’. She had plenty of evidence to prove that their race, the race of the anthronies had come forth out of them but none believed her.
It never stopped her from pursuing the one dream she always had, to prove her right and their wrong. On top of her head and with a base shrouded in the hair could her horn be found. A horn that calmly coated itself within the raspberry colored magical aura before the candles in the room were ignited. The night was about to come and darkness was their greatest enemy.
One by one were the candles ignited before the magical charge disappeared from the horn. The unicorn turned around to make her departure from the room as it was. With every step she took, the heels of her shoes could be clearly heard echoing before the screeching sounds of the hinges dominated all.
The door was ancient, older than any of them could have ever imagined it to be and an exact date was never confirmed. Rumors spoke about thousands if not tens of thousands of years yet they never dared to even remove it from its hinges. There was something magical about it and they all felt it when they touched upon it.
The eyes of the unicorn looked upon the carving made unto it, though it had faded through the gears of time. It didn’t matter how many times she placed her hands upon the material, it always made her feel a tad bit closer to the goddesses of both the sun and the moon. The very two goddesses she tried to communicate throughout the day.
That was the job of the soothsayers, to try and communicate with the two goddesses. Those that ruled over their entire land while never revealing themselves. The divine powers that make everything the way they are supposed to be for all of time. Two entities that controlled all of them, whether it was liked to be admitted or not.
A little surge of arcane energy shot through the unicorn which caused her fingers to tingle a little bit. Her blue colored robes more looked like something a mage of war would wear, though she just loved the way it looked. The only problem was that most didn’t approve of her choice of wardrobe either.
Yet those had never seen the soothsayer at her full power. Despite looking like she was just a humble servant of the goddesses, the unicorn was incredibly skilled and powerful in the arcane arts. Many had to see her in actual action before they would have been able to believe that such a fragile looking body could call upon so much power.
The unicorn stepped through the doorway. Then she allowed it to be shut once again under their own power. With the thick thud behind her, she continued her way through the halls.
Life was good in her eyes, yet recently there had been a matter that came to her attention. A matter that seemed to have been affecting the whole of the land. Yet the unicorn tried to shake it off of her. She had been trying to get a grip of the goddesses their planes for the whole day and she wanted to ask them about it.
But she never could get a solid footing in the magical realms and was only treated by whispers of wise words from days gone by. That was something that they always did, sharing their wisdom with those who paid their respects to them. Yet they never were straight to the point with them. Whether they saw fun in doing so or didn’t knew how to change the words into something else remained a mystery.
A mystery perhaps left unsolved for the gears of time that still had to come.
The unicorn placed both of her hands behind her back. The blue robe swayed behind her in the wind while she walked. Her heels clacked against the stone floor like water that dripped out of an almost closet faucet. Eerie, uncomfortable and almost haunting. Yet by one of the windows, she made a stop and looked over the sights to be seen.
The wonderful land that laid stretched out before her was their world. The world where the anthronies lived in together with both peace and prosperity. The few factories that could be seen spat out their plumes of white smoke before ceasing. Time had come a long way and their industrial revolution was standing in the young shoes. One day, it would bloom. A fact the soothsayer herself knew all too well.
~~~~
For minutes she kept on staring towards the scenes to be watched. Then she continued upon her path. One last glare was given to the outside world, an outside world that was named nothing else than the land of Equestria. Home of the countless species and races, but also one that had many greater secrets to it. Secrets which perhaps were left untold while others tried to find them. One were sure of what was best, but it never stopped them from trying.
The soothsayer herself made a turn into another hallway. There she noticed a couple of guards that stood on duty. It was one of the few times a day that both kind of guards could be seen together. Upon further notice, even the soothsayer noticed that and saw both the pegasus sun guardian as well as the bat-like lunar one. A rather unique sight they both were to behold.
One with a striking white skin and dressed in golden armor while the powerful wings were tucked nicely behind its back. Yet the other was dark blue skinned, dressed in even darker armor and wings that were sharp, rough and made out of actual skin. The differences between the two types of guardians couldn’t be bigger yet they always seemed to be getting along just fine.
The soothsayer closed in on their position before she gave the both of them a calm nod and a smile. The two guardians made a salute to her before the pegasus spoke up in a low toned voice. “And how may we serve you today, soothsayer Sparkle?” he asked to her. The urges to bow could be seen within the striking blue eyes.
The unicorn herself released a gentle chuckle before she shook her head calmly. “Just call me Twilight, I have said that time and time again, remember?” replied Twilight to him when a smile formed itself. Then she looked over to the bat anthrony with a more serious face. “Could you tell me, whether or not something of interest has happened during my time in meditation?” Her voice was both calm and kind, as if she was the serenity itself that all of the creatures needed.
The bat anthrony looked her in the eyes before a small inhale was released. Just before her own voice filled the hall. “Outside of the fact that they have continued, there isn’t much that actually has happened, milady. A map has been brought to your room with the locations of the last few. But, if I may speak so freely, they are becoming a real menace. Getting out of hand, shall we say.”
“That’s enough, guard,” the other one replied before a huff was being released, “she shall be looking into it and come with a solution as the soothsayers do for everything.”
Even though the outburst was enough to silence the bat anthrony, it was Twilight’s very own curiosity that was sparked by him. Her body turned back over to the pegasus, who let out a gulp the second he saw the glare in her eyes. “I’m pretty certain that it is a matter that concerns all of us, guardian. If we don’t find the source of these things soon, our homes might be the next thing that will be grounded.”
“Yes ma’am, I’m sorry ma’am,” the pegasus spoke while he tried to make an excuse for himself. One which was easier thought of then said towards her.
But Twilight wouldn’t be having any of it at all. “And what if the soothsayers can’t find a solution to this problem, are you the one who’s going to tell all those devastated families that they have our condolences?! Anthronies are dying out there, guardian. Maybe not next to us or known to us, but they are. The ground swallows them whole as the cemeteries get only more crowded. Have you ever been, to one of the mass funerals?”
It silenced the pegasus while the bat anthrony looked up with a bit of a curious expression across her face. She didn’t wanted to speak another word against the soothsayer but before she knew it there was an answer. “I, I have.” In response did Twilight turn her attention back to the other being and allowed her to speak further. “It, it was horrible. The death of seven of my friends just like that. No warning, no nothing. It just came, so sudden,” she spoke up before wiping away a tear or two.
Twilight placed her gentle hand upon the cheek of the bat anthrony before she gave an understanding and calming nod. “It’s alright, it’s alright. Mourn about them for now, but never forget them,” she said in comforting tone. The guard released a deep sniffle in response, the pain was still fresh and sharp as a knife. She gave a nod to her that everything was better again and Twilight slowly removed her hand again.
The soothsayer’s attention was then turned back to the pegasus whom she only gave a deep huff at first. “This matter isn’t something we have full control over and not one we can solve that easily. Add into the mix that the goddesses have become rather tricky to let any of us stand upon their ground and you have a crisis that only will be getting worse. So having guards like yourself making such comments, is the last thing we need. Am I clear?”
The tone was threatening, dead serious even. Twilight had meant each and every one of the words that she spoke. It frightened the pegasus guard of what she would be doing next. Of course he could have reached out for his sword, but that would only have made the matter even worse. “Good stallion,” Twilight simple commented before she proceeded with her own journey. “Good evening to the both of you.”
Among the silence of the hall did that eerie sound return, the heels of her shoes that clacked against the stone of the floor. In seconds she was just gone, but the two anthronies looked at one another with an expression of disbelief.
~~~~
The route of the soothsayer brought her to the courtyard of the castle that was their home. The castle of Canterlot was claimed as their home for a simple reason: energy of the goddesses was the most apparent there. Nopony could be truly telling any of them why it was that way. Yet they didn’t took it for granted.
While her eyes looked over the massive garden while her body leaned against one of the columns. The arms were crossed over one another while a inhale followed. Yet her ears twitched gently from the steps of another being that was heading her way. “Beatrix, Lulamoon,” brought Twilight forth. Moments later had she turned her head to the approaching being.
It was indeed the one she had called and Beatrix stood there in her ceremonial robes and her blue skin with cornflower blue hair visible. A growl was released by her as she had always hated the name given to her by her parents. “I told this before, Sparkle, that my name is Trixie,” she replied to her. Then the horn on top of her head coated itself within an aura. In a second there was a staff being summoned in her hand and pointed towards Twilight.
The soothsayer simple rolled her eyes backwards before a sigh was released. “Why are you still this hostile towards me, hm? Has it something to do with you being kicked out of the navy or something? Why and what?”
"I don’t have to explain anything to you, for you know darn well what you did to me all those years ago. You ruined me on my entry day and my reputation has never been going up because of it,” answered Trixie. The staff was placed against the ground and the grip of the mare’s hand only became more firm. If Twilight didn’t know any better, was Trixie preparing an assault on her.
“You, idiotic, little, mare, that you are. I didn’t ruin you, you ruined yourself all that time ago. I wasn’t the one calling out I happened to be the greatest mage in the castle. You were foolish enough to choose me as your opponent. I beat you that day in a duel both fair and square,” she said.
“Why you little..!” Trixie exclaimed before the arcane powers not only surged through her horn, but also both of her hands and the staff. What followed was a massive discharge of energy. One that was sent towards Twilight in an explosion of rage.
The explosion of magical energy created a shield of smoke. Trixie was panting in an attempt to recover herself. The eyes glared over the place where Twilight stood and she wanted to see her nothing else but dead on the ground. The only problem happened to have been that Twilight had made a shield for herself a mere second before it would hit her.
Her hands and horn coated within the raspberry aura while she stood there behind the arcane shield with a dead serious expression within her eyes. “Never, do such a thing again or I will have you kicked out of here, for good,” she spoke to in a stone cold and serious voice towards Trixie.
The other unicorn lowered her staff before it disappeared into thin air. “Always the faithful one, aren’t you?” Trixie taunted her before she turned away. “Mistakes shall be made and I will show the world, what I’m capable of. And they will realize, they will realize just how wrong they were.” Only after those words were spoken was she finally leaving Twilight alone.
A Twilight that was mentally almost drained and still had the power to soak up the empty threats of the mare. A deep sigh was being released through her nostrils as the shield was gently lowered. She needed to return to her room and get some much needed sleep. It was perhaps the only thing that she could be doing at that point in time.
Nothing else was there in the castle that could possibly help her. Perhaps a relief, perhaps a burden. Twilight didn’t know and she perhaps wouldn’t be knowing it for time to come. Either way, she left the courtyard of the castle in order to travel to her own little home.
~~~~
The door fell shut behind her and the scents of her own room fell within her nose. Scents that caused a massive smile to form itself across her face. She was finally in the one place where she could truly be herself. Yet the words of the bat anthrony weren’t forgotten at all.
In a clean swoop were the eyes pointed to her desk. The magical aura appeared around both her horn and the chair before it was pulled back. The mare took place upon it like a lady before she took the envelope in her hands. The hesitation was clearly visible within her eyes. For inside that very envelope stood the very locations that were hit during the day.
A menace had struck them unlike anything before and the answers all seemed to have been so far away. Yet with a deep sigh she opened the thing and took out the paper inside. It was unfolded and brought up to her eyes which then went from left to right. Each letter she read was a massive shock to her as her mind tried to connect the patterns together, if there were any.
“This is just impossible Twilight and you know it. Nothing in the world can cause such things,” she mumbled to herself before remembering the entire map of Equestria. “It can’t be them, as their power isn’t that powerful to level entire towns like that. The factories are a possibility, but those are never build there. Could it be..?”
The revelation and realization that went through the mare was something she never could have expected. Twilight was gifted with her mind, that much was certain and proved time and time again. She could see patterns where others just noticed nothing. Yet for the very first time in her life she couldn’t see any kind of pattern in the destruction that was causing havoc through their land. “It can’t be at complete random, right?”
Yet she knew she was tired. The letter was placed back upon her desk and Twilight removed herself out of the chair. “A, a good night of sleep, that is what I need,” she said to herself. Her eyes looked and gazed out of the window. Something out there managed to capture her attention again. She even walked with a calm pace in her feet to the sill.
Both of her hands were placed upon the sill as she leaned forwards. Her nose almost touched the glass as she was breathing through her mouth. One little realization came to mind that may or may not have given the breakthrough for her. Something that not even she had thought about earlier for whatever reason.
Something that was perhaps the only thing that could actually have helped them all in discovering what was actually going on. “The fault lines,” whispered Twilight to herself. She felt like she could hit herself. It wasn’t a matter that was solved on the surface, but one that would be doing deeply below it.
“Oh how could I have ever been so stupid that I didn’t realize it before?!” she exclaimed before she turned around. Her bum then rested against the sill of the window as the arms crossed. Her head was lowered as the thoughts continued to grind themselves through her mind. Almost every possible thing made its way past her eyes before a deep yawn was actually released through her mouth.
A yawn that caused her to lose the entire train of thought.
With a grumble she called once more upon her magic and levitated both a quill and a piece of paper towards her. With a couple of quick scrabbles she wrote down everything that her mind had come up with as a subtle reminder for herself. Once she was happy with the information written down, Twilight laid the paper next to the letter and dropped the quill upon her desk.
“That should keep me busy tomorrow, now just hope that the library has something about those things otherwise we are in even deeper trouble,” she mumbled to herself. Afterwards had she walked to the middle of the room. There did her hands made a couple of motions before they coated themselves within the magical aura for the last time.
What happened next was that all of Twilight’s clothing began to melt from her body. Slowly but surely did the outfit she wore dissolve into nothing. Her entire body was revealed and the lines of both a fragile and powerful body were revealed to her. A soft moan was being released by the unicorn. It simply felt great to finally have gotten rid of her attire and she wanted to change into something else. Something a bit more comfortable for her taste.
So with a burst of blue fire she disappeared within a column of it. That very fire actually used to have been her previous outfit before it died down just as quick and mysterious as it came. For as the column of fire dropped itself, Twilight had changed her attire and not even a scratch if the fires could be seen.
She had changed herself into a classy looking nightie and the aura disappeared from her hands. The expression that was visible within her eyes was absent, almost as if she was actually asleep already. Another yawn managed to get passed her mouth before she took place in her bed.
Twilight was dead tired, whether she wanted to admit the fact or not. There wasn’t anything that could have been done to keep her awake outside of the rattling of her own mind. “Tomorrow, tomorrow I shall crack pieces of the mystery,” she whispered to herself. The curtains fell before the windows.
She was surrounded in total darkness before the blankets were brought around and over her body. She snuggled up against them with a smile clearly visible upon her face before one last yawn was the final sign that Twilight was awake. After it had she departed into the realm of the sleepers and began to dream her dreams.
Dreams about her family and how much they loved each other, dreams about the sheer power she possessed and the uses it had. Yet the most important dream she had was perhaps the different outcomes that her research could be having. Music of the future it indeed was, but she saw every possible outcome right before her eyes.
The good, the bad and the unknown. All of it was just possible right there and then, but there was nothing in the wide world of Equestria that could actually have prepared her for the events that had been set in motion. For nothing could have ever prepared her, for the journey that she was about to make.
Not to mention the trouble that five other beings would be giving her along the way. Five beings that would be supporting her through the thickest of battles without a hitch. Yet the group of misfits would be one that was unique to the world. A group unlike anything ever seen before.
And the best part was that none of them knew what the morning would bring. All five of them lived different lives but would be brought together by the interferences of the goddesses. Whatever laid ahead in their lives, the dices had been cast a long time ago. Nothing, could stop the game of the goddesses themselves.
~~~~
Back in Canterlot, hidden deeply away within her own room, had Trixie been cooking up a plan that seemed to have been madness itself. She was both giggling and chuckling in the insanity that she had fallen in. Years had she looked up against Twilight as the major defeater of her title. She didn’t wanted to admit that it was actually all her own fault that she had been brought down.
The feelings of pride were a lot stronger than her shame and that was basically all that she had left in the world. Her own pride was more important than anything else to her. A fact that she showed on more than one occasion. Yet just when Trixie prepared herself to go to bed, somepony else was knocking at her door. Loud knocks were sent through the entire room time and time again, Just when Trixie got out of bed was the door bashed in.
“What on earth is the meaning of this?!” Trixie exclaimed when the guards rushed into the room. They were followed by a captain who had his hands behind his back. The unicorn herself looked at the stallion with a frightened expression as she knew the time. “No. This can’t be, she said she would give me another chance!”
The captain himself shook his head towards her before his low pitched voice filled the room. “Get a hold of her, I want to talk to her,” he said and two guards immediately managed to get a hold of the mare. Fighting against the power of two celestial pegasi was madness to begin with and therefore Trixie just surrendered herself. And just waited for what would come.
Step by step he came closer to her. He took both of her cheeks in three of his fingers when the chance was there and forced her to look straight in his eyes. “Sparkle might have given you another chance, but some of my guards don’t. They told me you were dangerous and after the story of you nearly blowing her up, I start to believe that fact well enough for myself. You’re a great battlemage, Beatrix, but you lack something my boys here have. Discipline,” the stallion spoke to her. He released her mouth again so that she could speak for herself, defend herself if needed.
“Oh just be silent you, you have no authority to dump me off of Canterlotian ground and you know it,” replied Trixie after she spat on the ground a couple of times, “I have done nothing wrong to her as she came out unscratched.”
“An assault on a soothsayer, is still an assault even if said soothsayer happens to be one of the most powerful arcane users we have ever seen in our time. I’m sorry, Beatrix, but I’m afraid you can no longer teach your students in these conditions. However, I give you a week to either prove yourself you can contain yourself about your past, or I will make personally sure you get kicked off of this ground,” the captain said to her.
The words of the captain were true, but that didn’t mean they stung Trixie like a knife through her heart. A deep huff was released by the unicorn as she wanted to call upon her magical powers. Yet something told her to let him go. To not give him the pleasure of kicking her out already. “Fine then, I shall learn to behave. Now please go away and grant me my sleep, captain.”
~~~~
Back in her room had Twilight woken up from sounds that came from an unknown origin. She had sat down on the side of her bed. The thoughts just couldn’t leave her alone whatsoever. Even though she had written them down and she knew what she needed to do and look for, there was that feeling she missed something. Something that was so obvious that it almost hit her right in the face yet she couldn’t figure it out.
It drove her insane to say the least and with the three arcane orbs flowing calmly around her, they didn’t only provide a source of light. For they were meant to calm her rampaging mind, which didn’t actually work.
“Oh for the love of, that’s right!” she muttered to herself before her body dropped back on the bed. “I need to teach them tomorrow as well, meaning I can’t go to the library until after class.” She wanted to figure the clues out so much, but her classes were just about the most important thing next to it. She couldn’t drop them just for the sake that she might have discovered the reason there is turmoil in their land.
It just couldn’t be done whatsoever. It managed to actually split the mind of the mare into two separate states. One said she should drop her classes while the other stated she shouldn’t. Nuts it drove her. The hours of the night didn’t help that much either.
Insanity at its finest, that was the state in which Twilight’s mind was in. The three orbs of arcane energy continued to swirl in a near perfect circle around one another as the violet rimmed eyes of Twilight looked upon them. “Why does everything always need to be so though?” she questioned to herself as the eyes gently closed upon themselves.
Answers were the things she needed but also the things she had the least of. Whether or not she would be having one for every one of her questions remained a question in and of itself. Yet as the eyes were closed, the light of the orbs could still be seen clearly through the lids. A light that actually began to toy and play with the brain of Twilight.
It managed to exhaust it even more. Every department that it had had slowly began to shut itself down again. Closer and closer she came to falling asleep without the usage of any magical spell or time lock. In the end did the three little orbs dissolve themselves into just shimmers before disappearing from the plane of reality.
Twilight had finally fallen into a good and deep sleep as the dreams she had contained everything but the things she was worrying about. Gentle snores and rather cute sounding noises all came from behind the door as two bat anthronies walked by.
They couldn’t help themselves but to give a gentle chuckle towards it before continuing upon their patrol. The next morning would be the start of everything, the start of the journey perhaps not asked for. The journey that would change not just one life forever, but the lives of many. But that was all just future music for the time being.